Life

[ThunderPeel2001]

So I've just been offered a place to read Human Sciences at St. Catherine's College, Oxford University.

Hooray =D

Would like to point out that, during the interview process, I was feeling horribly down about how it was all going, and decided to listen to Fanboy's Lament, Space Asshole, The Ballad of John Riccitiello and The Fable of Love to calm myself down before my final interview. Apparently it worked

Congrats to you!

[miffy495]

That is indeed a Cactuar, that one was the pride of my girlfriend (who made most of them ^^).

Damn. I lose. I had just been playing Super Meat Boy and thought that it looked like Commander Video.

Also: Fuck yeah, Speedy!

EDIT EDIT: In other scholarly related news, I just got accepted to the 2 year post-undergrad Education program here in Calgary, despite having no volunteer experience. Yay for a really high GPA letting me through. Got the news about 3 minutes ago. When I went into Uni back in '05, my goal was to become an elementary school English teacher. I am now in the program to do exactly that. Happy!

Edited December 22, 2010 by miffy495

[pabosher]

Damn. I lose. I had just been playing Super Meat Boy and thought that it looked like Commander Video.

Also: Fuck yeah, Speedy!

EDIT EDIT: In other scholarly related news, I just got accepted to the 2 year post-undergrad Education program here in Calgary, despite having no volunteer experience. Yay for a really high GPA letting me through. Got the news about 3 minutes ago. When I went into Uni back in '05, my goal was to become an elementary school English teacher. I am now in the program to do exactly that. Happy!

Fuck yeah! High Five!

[Nappi]

Congrats Speedy and Miffy! Have a nice ejucation!

Rodi, I was in a somewhat similar situation in my previous job. I only worked there for two summers, though, so I just bit my lip most of the time. Luckily my current job is pretty much the polar opposite of the previous one in that respect.

[Roderick]

Thanks, Nappi and others. I'm currently scouting for other jobs. I think I've found my dream company to work for, which I will not yet mention for fear of jinxing it. Suffice it to say I'm preparing my push for it.

Oh man, if this works out it'll change everything, which is so frightening and awesome. Not in the least because I'll have to move abroad

[Murdoc]

Oxford? Shit, I didn't know people here were actually smart, I thought everyone was pretending like I do.

[pabosher]

Oxford? Shit, I didn't know people here were actually smart, I thought everyone was pretending like I do.

I just pretended through the interview/s. I'm just looking forward to their faces on the first day when they realise what a horrible, horrible mistake they've made.

[Nappi]

I just pretended through the interview/s. I'm just looking forward to their faces on the first day when they realise what a horrible, horrible mistake they've made.

I was exposed when I asked the physics professor whether he was a hardcore gamer because he was using that weird 'A' symbol from 'Half-Life' all the time.

[pabosher]

I was exposed when I asked the physics professor whether he was a hardcore gamer because he was using that weird 'A' symbol from 'Half-Life' all the time.

During my interview, I was asked:

"What would happen if the human race was split into two different sections?"

"Oh, like a zombie apocalypse, where they need to be contained to ensure no-one else gets infected by the virus?"

I have no idea why they let me in.

[Orv]

I have no idea why they let me in.

Oxford is the worlds foremost zombie apocalypse theory center. Duh.

So I have owned for a while now, a fedora, a pair each of very nice 40's & 50's style suits, and two pairs of loafers (which look a tad clownish, considering the size of my feet) with optional spats.

A friend was kind enough to round out my 'style' with a very nice pocket watch, which she was sorely tempted to have carved in the style of Doctor Who.

I am a big, fat dork. And I love it.

[ThunderPeel2001]

During my interview, I was asked:

"What would happen if the human race was split into two different sections?"

That's such an odd question. Scientific and technological progression would halve because progress and resources weren't being shared? I don't know. How weird... it's almost like sheer confidence will get you through something like that.

I suppose it's like the old "How many manhole covers are there in London?" question.

[pabosher]

She then specified it to "What if one subsection had AIDS, but were immune to HIV, and the other section has HIV?"

It was really, very difficult. But hey, apparently I got a place!

[ThunderPeel2001]

She then specified it to "What if one subsection had AIDS, but were immune to HIV, and the other section has HIV?"

Interesting! Could they develop a cure from the folks who were immune? Goodness, that is a tricky question. My brain is turning to mush thinking about it. I would have thought (almost definitely incorrectly) that it wouldn't make any difference to our present situation: Some people have AIDS, some people don't. It doesn't matter about the HIV, because you're either immune or you've already got it. "Whaddya mean I don't get a place in Oxford?"

Very interesting!

[Patters]

There's no correct answer, it's social science. There is a wrong one however. If you keep each group separate and let them breed the population would exponentially increase making the entire situation worse and increasing the stress on natural resources.

The 3 other viable options would be:

• Stopping those immune to HIV and carry AIDS from breeding
  
• Stop those without AIDS from breeding
  
• Allow breeding between the 2 subsets of people
  

The 3rd is the most politically safe option and would end in the human population reaching a hypothetical equilibrium assuming families have 2 children. I'd argue that the 2nd option, is the most optimal, considering if the infection re-emerged the population would be immune. However there would be an outcry against this, though the outcome would be the same, it would just take less time.

Or y'know let everyone fight and leave with a small group of people to repopulate.

[Hermie]

Man, decorating all of these is a lot of work, we still have a pile left. Here's a sneak peak:

[DanJW]

• Stopping those immune to HIV and carry AIDS from breeding
  
• Stop those without AIDS from breeding
  
• Allow breeding between the 2 subsets of people
  

What? I'm confused. AIDS without HIV virus is generally just IDS. It's usually congenital, not contagious.

HIV is dangerous because being infected almost always leads to development of AIDS. HIV without AIDS could be safely ignored.

Thus neither group is a danger to the other. The HIV positive group aren't going to catch (A)IDS from the other group, because there is no vector. The IDS group aren't going to suffer any more from being exposed to the HIV positive group.

I assume the purpose of the question is just to get you thinking and talking though.

[Patters]

Fair enough, I'm not well researched in the disease (or any disease for that matter).

[ThunderPeel2001]

Thus neither group is a danger to the other.

Or, indeed, to anyone, right?

[pabosher]

I know nothing about either HIV or AIDS. I once tried asking my teacher about it, but his answer didn't really help.

You know, I honestly don't remember what I answered for that question, and I doubt it was very good. I was more happy when questions like "Are Humans still evolving?" came up, because I had half-prepared for that one, heh.

[Roderick]

I hope your answer included the word "yes"

Yet strangely, I also hope that someone at one point answered: "I'm not sure if there's anything in the bible on that, lemme check."

[pabosher]

Well I mentioned research that showed a Tibetan tribe had evolved in the last 3k years, then basically said I don't think that we need to evolve anymore. Basically, evolution happened because we needed to adapt to thrive in our environment, but now we're intelligent enough to adapt the environment to suit ourselves.

[DanJW]

I know nothing about either HIV or AIDS. I once tried asking my teacher about it, but his answer didn't really help.

Interesting. When I was at school they really hammered it into us (information about it, that is ). This was the tail end of the 80's and early 90's though, when the HIV scare* was still at peak in the UK. Doing biology A-level may have helped too.

(*compared to the usual UK health scares this was by far the most sensible)

[pabosher]

I, uh, was asking my Biology A level teacher, hah. =(

[DanJW]

So I have owned for a while now, a fedora, a pair each of very nice 40's & 50's style suits, and two pairs of loafers (which look a tad clownish, considering the size of my feet) with optional spats.

A friend was kind enough to round out my 'style' with a very nice pocket watch, which she was sorely tempted to have carved in the style of Doctor Who.

Come to Brighton! You will fit right in at one of the steampunk burlesque nights!

Fedoras rock BTW.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Well I mentioned research that showed a Tibetan tribe had evolved in the last 3k years, then basically said I don't think that we need to evolve anymore. Basically, evolution happened because we needed to adapt to thrive in our environment, but now we're intelligent enough to adapt the environment to suit ourselves.

It's certainly an interesting question, but I suppose, technically, the process of evolution does not stop... whether we need to keep evolving or not.

I guess these questions just reveal how you look at problems and how you attempt to answer them. (Much like the manhole cover question.)

Fun fact: One of the people we interviewed for a position here, when asked that question, started confidently giving out (obviously made-up) numbers... Yikes! There's a person you want solving problems in your office!